Amygdala<br >-- <br >Amygdala (17)

> The French have identity cards. The carte de sejour is, basically, a French identity card for non-French nationals. Thanks for the info. So, I am now wondering, do you know when French Nationals receive this? In time my children may be considered nationals, when would they receive one? When they are 18 perhaps? Perhaps it's a good idea for me and my Wife to obtain carte de sejours so we can avoid any problems in the future?

> you are required to carry ID in France I've heard this a lot, and just thought I'd ask. What do the French use as ID? And if it's simply some sort of ID card, can we have one too? I live here and pay my taxes etc. OK, so I'm not French, would that make a difference getting one? I do not carry round my passport and proof of address at the moment, as a matter of course. What would/could happen if I was asked to produce them but couldn't?

[quote]Are you happy in France? Would you rather be somewhere else - if there were no obstacles to a move?[/quote] Are we happy in France? Yes, although we've been here for such a short time that we're still most likely in holiday mode. However, in my opinion, there are some obvious problems with thinking if mistakes can be as gross as I have read (on another website ). Weather. Choose your location. If you want it to be vastly superior in sunshine hours to say Brighton, then don't move to Somme! Location. If you are used to city life then move in or near a city if you think that country life would become too isolated and quiet. If you want the country life with land and horses then ... it couldn't be easier! Income. This is the #1 killer. Move over here to do up a gite and live off it and you will most likely fail. Have stable income and do not stretch yourself with your house aspirations and you will most likely be better off than in the UK. We run our own business online, we have sold our house in the UK (complete on Friday!) and will buy somewhere out here outright! No mortgage, and I am 32. To 'move up' in housing in the UK and have no mortgage at 32 would be an impossible dream for most, including us, but here we are doing it in France. What I'm saying is, use your common sense. If you do this then France can and (all being well) will be great for us and could be for anyone else too. Where will you find me? Most likely sitting with my wife outside a cafe in Saintes while our son and daughter are at school. We're having a great time and a few forms to fill in aren't going to stop that. As an addition, can I just say, I don't have all the answers - nobody does - but it amazes me how many brits we've met over here who are bordering on misery because of unrealistic expectations. Perhaps being blissful comes from ignorance AND common sense intelligence Would we rather be somewhere else? We considered the states, but that was too far away from relatives (for the sake of grandchildren). In our position we could be anywhere else in the world (as long as we have access to an internet connection) but positively chose France. And like some others, we have moved TO France, and not necessarily moved AWAY from England. The motivation doesn't come from hating England or so, just from the possibilities that France offers. Oh, and wouldn't it be boring to take the easy route and strive strive strive in England? Just my two penneth

Sorry, not ignoring you, just haven't had a chance to get back on here since last time. Yes, he's now had two half days and seems to be liking it. In fact we can't wait for him to start going full time now as he's got a lot of energy left to channel in the afternoon! We're currently renting near Cognac, but looking around Saintes to buy. Next, getting our 1 year old into child-care, and then we'll have some time to get some French lessons in

Hi Liz Yes, just got back from dropping him off and I must say that I was a little choked, but his first request was to colour (so I think they understood him!). It was their suggestion to start 9-12. We're just going with that. I think I would have done the full day for the reasons you say, but I figured it was best to go with what they said - after all, they're the ones having to look after the little monkey Slippers, we need to buy some slippers!

Phew, 8/10! The only problem now is the standard I have to maintain lol I remember the old forum (I never registered for it though). We've only just got here actually, and now I'm online I thought I'd check out LF forum and found this new whizzy one. It looks like a great place to find out all the things we need to know. Big day tomorrow, our son (just 4) is having his first half day in school. He'll most likely spend it saying, "why are you saying that!?" and "WHAT?"

Apologies if this has already been posted. I don't have any affiliation with this site, I just thought it was a useful place to read about things happening in France while my French language standard isn't up to reading French papers. Perhaps a few of you might also find it useful too. http://www.french-news.com/ There is an associated monthly newspaper by the same name. My first post here - hope it was at least a 5/10 for effort